“Okay.” He shrugs. “I mean, if my acting is bad, at least that’s part of the joke, right?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“So just start shouting ‘Red,’ ‘Blue,’ ‘Red,’ ‘Blue,’ and that’ll be our cue to come rushing in,” Paz says.
“Great,” Connie says. “Then Ryan and I will announce the start of the games and how the teams are divided. Now let’s go over the scheduling and make sure you all understand what the events are, and where you’ll be leading the non-participants in cheers and songs.”
We go over everything, figuring out cheering sections and when we march our teams from location to location. The Red team leaves after a while and we start trying to figure out which cabins to assign to which activities. We have five cabins in total, and five activities. We give Jimmy’s cabin the pie eating, and Charity’s cabin the egg race. We give cabin five, with mostly younger kids, the kickball game. But then there’s just the swimming races and the obstacle course relay race, and cabins eighteen and seven. My cabin.
“Hudson’s cabin is definitely going to be our competition for the obstacle course relay,” Paz says. “They run that thing every week. I don’t know how we can beat them.”
“I do,” I say, smiling. “We’ll take them on. Cabin seven.” I point to our cabin on the list.
“Are you sure?” Connie asks.
“Positive.”
“All right,” Connie says. “Then we have it all set. All we need are some good cheers … and I was going to say some good blue outfits, but I think we have that covered,” she says, looking at our rompers, mine still expertly folded and tied with ribbon.
“Did you want one, too?” Charity asks. “I can make one. What are you, six-two and three-quarters?”
“I … yes,” Connie says. “But no need to make me anything. Focus on your fellow captains’ outfits. I’m just your supervisor. But for now, we should get to dinner. See you all tomorrow to work on cheers.”
We leave the cabin and head down to dinner, Paz walking next to me.
“Hey,” she says. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“It’s about Ashleigh.”
“Okay.”
“So, I know she’s demi, but … I mean, we’ve been hanging out a lot. I think she’s really funny, and really hot, but if she’s not feeling it, that’s okay. But is it that she won’t feel anything for me in that way, or just that we haven’t clicked enough yet?”
“Oh,” I say. This is not easy like the George one. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not demi. I have no idea what it’s like, aside from how she explained it to me.”
“How did she explain it to you?”
“Well, this was years ago, but she said that non-demi people can go to a movie and see a movie star and be turned on by them and want to get with them. She doesn’t do that. She doesn’t feel anything for someone she doesn’t know. A character in a movie, maybe, though usually not, ’cause she knows they’re just a character. But for her to get turned on by a person, she has to know them.”
Paz sighs. “So you really don’t know?”
“Just ask her,” I say. “Tell her you’re into her, and you’re hoping she’s into you, or will be, but if she’s not, you don’t want to spend the summer pining over someone with no interest. She’ll get that, trust me.”
“That sounds so awkward.”
“Yeah.”
“Can you ask her for me?”
“No,” I say quickly. “I mean, I can, but I wouldn’t tell you unless she said she wanted me to tell you, and then it’s just passing notes in class, right? Just ask her.”
“Yeah.” She sighs again. “Okay.”
When we go into the dining hall, Hudson is already there and I run to take a seat before helping myself to the chicken nuggets going around.
“Hey,” he says. “So, I’m a little nervous about … the thing we agreed to.” He looks around and speaks softly.
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be silly and fine. We can practice later, if you want.”
“Yeah, if that’s okay. I don’t want anyone to think it’s for real, either. I don’t want anyone to think I’m mad at you, babe.”
My heart melts a little, and I run my hand down his arm. He doesn’t want anyone to think the fight is real! That’s too adorable. I’m so, so lucky.
“I think if they do think it’s real,” I tell him, “they’ll figure out it’s not the moment everyone else comes running in in costume.”
“Yeah.” He squeezes my thigh. “And, so, you’re cool with this? Being on opposite sides?”
“Sure.” I dunk my nugget into some ketchup. “It’s just a game.”
“And you’ll be cool when we kick your ass?” He grins and wiggles his eyebrows.
“You can try,” I tell him, staying cool. “But I’ll be fine if we lose. You’ll be okay, too?”
“I mean, that’s not going to happen, but yeah, I think I’ll be okay.”
“Confident man,” I say, licking my lips.
“I have some experience.”
“Maybe I’ll give you some new ones.”
“So, are we still talking about the thing … or a different thing? ’Cause I thought we said this weekend. I meant when the first thing is over, by the way.”
“That’s what I meant, too. And yeah, I think that’ll be perfect timing.”
His hand inches up my thigh, his fingers under my shorts.
“I don’t know which thing I’m more excited about,” he says.
“You don’t? I’m a little offended.”
“Okay,” he says, leaning in so I can feel his breath on my neck. “I know.”
I swallow.
He pulls his hand back. “So we can rehearse a little after dinner, before the night swim?”
“Perfect,” I say, happy he’s pulling back. I didn’t want to be sporting this hard-on when I stood up after dinner. I make a point of asking for the blue juice, just to seed our act a little, and spend the rest of the night hearing about the rehearsals and planning our skit in my mind.
After dinner, as everyone goes up the hill to the cabins to change into swimsuits, I take Hudson aside behind my cabin to practice our performance. He picks it up quickly, not that there’s much to it. I open with a comedic monologue on why blue juice is better than red, he disagrees, I disagree, he shouts red, I shout blue, repeat until people run in. It’s simple. But his acting could use a little work.
“Be more forceful,” I tell him. “Make me believe you really think red juice is better.”
“Um … okay. The red JUICE is better.”
“You don’t need to emphasize the word juice.”
“Right. So, you learned all this stuff from your bunkmates?” he asks, leaning on the wall next to me.
“From our friends, yes. Try it again.”
“The RED juice is the best!”